Kegelbell: A Gym for Your Vagina?

Ahh, Kegel exercises.

Nothing like being able to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles while you’re sitting in traffic or standing in line at the grocery store. Some say that’s the beauty of Kegel exercises. You can do them anywhere at any time and no one knows! There are a variety of causes behind the weakening of the pelvic floor muscles—the muscles that are easy to identify because they are what you contract to stop the flow of urine when going to the bathroom. Some of the reasons they weaken in women are vaginal childbirth, aging, and vaginal trauma. Generally speaking, muscles that are tight when we are young begin to lose their tightness and strength as we age and as we become sexually active. But also generally speaking, in much the same way you can strengthen your biceps through training, you also can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles through training. (Thus the encouragement to contract them whenever you can, including while standing in line at the grocery store). Men and women can strengthen their pelvic floor muscles by doing Kegels. We call them Kegels because they are named for Dr. Arnold Kegel, a gynecologist who first recommended repetitive and regular contraction of these pelvic floor muscles as a way to help limit those pesky bladder leakage issues. Few people probably know the history behind the name, but countless people (especially women) are completely aware of what someone means when they say “Kegels.”

Keeping the pelvic floor muscles strong helps not only to limit bladder leakage, but also to improve sexual satisfaction—for the wife and for the husband.

The tighter these muscles are in a woman, the more tightness there is around the penis, which can be incredibly satisfying for both a wife and a husband (assuming there is enough natural and/or artificial vaginal lubrication and the wife is not suffering from vaginismus). When a wife tightens her pelvic floor muscles during sex, this too can intensify sexual satisfaction for both her and her husband.

So is there a gym for the vagina? I heard about Kegelbell, a product for women, and I decided to order it.

Kegelbell consists of a plastic bulb inserted into the vagina. The bulb has a cord on it (much in the same way a tampon has a cord that hangs out of the vagina). On the end of the bulb’s cord, you then can attach a series of weights. Kegelbell is designed to be used in private while standing in one place. It is not designed to be worn while walking around. The premise is the same as weight training. You contract your pelvic floor muscles to strengthen them. The more weight on the bulb, the more effective the strength training is for the muscles.

I just got my Kegelbell the other day, so you’ll have to wait for my update on how I feel about ease of use and effectiveness.

Certainly over the years, like most women, I have noticed the weakening of my pelvic floor muscles. It just makes sense that keeping these muscles strong is wise, in much the same way that keeping all of our muscles strong is wise. The Kegelbell packaging is incredibly nice and the product looks well made. I was grateful also to see included thorough explanation of how to use the device effectively and safely, as well as ample warnings about who should not use the product. For example, you should not use it if you have an active vaginal infection, are pregnant, have pelvic pain and/or have had pelvic surgery recently. As with any product of this sort, you definitely are encouraged to talk to your health care professional as you would before embarking on any fitness regimen. That’s what Kegelbell is designed for—to be a fitness regimen for your vagina.

It’s a gym for your vajayjay. (Famed television show creator Shonda Rhimes gets credit for that word, which is now forever part of our casual lexicon).

Stay tuned. My assessment of Kegelbell is coming. Enough with the puns, right?!

For more reading, you can cruise through my list of past posts, as well as my page with a bunch of posts on orgasm.

Copyright 2020, Julie Sibert. Intimacy in Marriage Blog. Links may be monetized. Never want to miss one of my posts?  Subscribe via email on this page.  And be sure to join my more than 10,000 followers on my Facebook page and 11,000 followers on Twitter.